England's abysmal record at the WACA in Perth continued even as Australia scripted an unexpected turnaround in their fortunes as they overwhelmed the visitors by 267 runs to level the Ashes series 1-1 with two more Tests to play. England have now played 12 Tests at the WACA, and have won only one match in Perth with this being their eighth loss at the venue.

Australia's turnaround is all the more spectacular considering they were written off by most cricket commentators and experts, and came into the third Test after being thrashed by an innings and 71 runs at Adelaide. The hosts didn't have a great start at the WACA either after being bowled out for 268 on the opening day of the match, and when England was cruising at 78 for no loss on the second day, it was a foregone conclusion that the Australian bowlers and fielders would yet again have to spend hours on the field.

However, Mitchell Johnson, who wasn't part of Australia's team in the second Test, had other ideas. Johnson had made the most of his forced sabbatical by working on the flaws in his bowling and spent hours at the nets in Adelaide and Perth working with Australia's bowling coach Troy Cooley in the lead-up to the crucial third Test to remodel his action. And, his hard work paid off in the end, as he decimated England in the first innings at the WACA enroute to having match figures of 9 for 82. Johnson, who was named Man of the Match, also top-scored with 62 in Australia's first innings.

Johnson's first spell on the second day, in which he took 4 for 7 in 27 balls as England collapsed to 98 for 5 from 78 for no loss before lunch, has been described by Australian captain Ricky Ponting as one of the greatest in Ashes history.

Johnson started the slide when he had the in-form Alastair Cook well caught by Michael Hussey at gully. He then struck twice in his next over as he trapped Jonathan Trott and Kevin Pietersen, who was coming off a career-best 227, plumb in front. While Trott was undone by a full delivery with a hint of swing, Pietersen failed to get his bat down in time to a swinging delivery. Johnson then returned to take the wickets of Chris Tremlett and James Anderson, as he finished with figures of 6 for 38 - his second best bowling performance in a Test innings after his 8 for 61 against South Africa at the same ground in December 2008.

Johnson said he was fired up by his verbal war with Anderson on the first day, and the England bowler would now regret sledging the Australian left-arm pacer. Johnson mixed up his deliveries well and also extracted a fair amount of swing from the wicket, which is always a sign that he is bowling well. He followed up short deliveries with full and length balls and had England's in-form batsmen in all sorts of trouble, and the swing that Johnson got both ways made him all the more difficult to handle.

Johnson was also on song in the second innings and took the important wickets of Strauss and Jonathan Trott late on the third day as Australia closed in on victory and got his ninth wicket of the match when he bowled Graeme Swann on the fourth day as the hosts took under an hour to win the Perth Test. Ryan Harris, who has come back strongly after a recent knee surgery had career-best figures of 6 for 47 in England's second innings, and took nine wickets in the match, as he ably supported Johnson with his pace and hostility. Ben Hilfenhaus may have taken only one wicket in the match, but his contribution to the victory shouldn't be undermined.

As has been the script in the series as far as Australia's batting is concerned, it was once again left to Hussey to guide the hosts to a respectable total. Hussey scored 61 in the first innings at Perth and followed it up with his 14th Test century as he made 116 in the second innings to help Australia set England a target of 391 to win. Hussey, who was well supported by Shane Watson in the second innings, has now scored 517 runs in the series, including two centuries and three half-centuries, at an average of 103.40. Hussey has looked unhurried and compact at the crease even as most of Australia's top-order has struggled.

The win at Perth regardless, Australia would be concerned with the form of Ponting and their vice-captain Michael Clarke, who have both failed to do justice to their reputations in the series. Phillip Hughes, who replaced the injured Simon Katich, had a double failure at the WACA, and will need to provide better support to Watson in Melbourne.

For England, the only silver lining in Perth, was the performance of Chris Tremlett, who in his first Test since August 2007, bowled brilliantly to finish with match figures of 8/150, including a five-for in Australia's second innings. Tremlett bothered most of the Australian batsmen with short and full length deliveries even as he extracted swing from the WACA pitch. Anderson bowled well in Australia's first innings, but was ineffective in the second innings. Steven Finn took five wickets in the match, but was inconsistent with his line and went for plenty of runs in both innings.

Finn is the highest wicket-taker in the series so far with 14 wickets, but his economy rate of 4.30, has played a huge role in easing the pressure on Australia's batting after the loss of quick wickets. Finn also looks a tad jaded and England would do well to rest him for Melbourne and draft in Tim Bresnan in the lanky pacer's place.

The ploy of the English fast bowlers to pepper Hussey with short deliveries also backfired as the Australian southpaw played the pull shot to perfection. Swann had a terrific match in Adelaide, but was out of his depths at the WACA, and bowled only 25 overs in the match. Swann was in fact, hit out of the attack in England's second innings and would look to bounce back with a vengeance in Melbourne.

England's batsmen failed in both the innings as scores of 187 and 123 would suggest. Strauss and Bell scored half-centuries in the first innings, but Paul Collingwood, Kevin Pietersen, Jonathan Trott and Matt Prior all had terrible outings in the middle. Cook who had scored 450 runs in the first two Tests only managed to score 45 runs at the WACA.

Bell has looked good in the series so far, and England would do well to contemplate pushing him up to No. 5 in the batting order instead of Collingwood, who can drop down to No. 6.

The failure of England's batting line-up came around not only because of the bouncy conditions at the WACA, but also as the Australian pace attack made optimum use of the nature of the track and were bang on with their lengths at most times.

The momentum has now shifted towards Australia, and England will need to come up with an improved all-round performance in the Boxing Day Test, if they want to regain the Ashes.